SACRAMENTO, CA – Last month the California Highway Patrol arrested Carey Renee Aceves, an analyst for California's State Department of Child Support Services. According to the CHP, Aceves used her state credit card to buy merchandise and embezzle $320,000, which the state employee used to buy, among other things, a new Lexis convertible, flat-screen television, a hot tub, and other exotic items. The spending spree is interesting on its own terms and holds lessons for legislators and taxpayers.

According to news reports, Aceves worked as a purchaser for the California Department of Fish and Game from 2000-2005. She then spent 17 months at the Department of Child Support Services. Her actions did not  come to light until December, when she resigned to take a different state job. That would seem to indicate that current in-house oversight measures are inadequate. Officials at the Department of Child Support Services told reporters that Aceves falsified invoices and that her bosses noticed nothing amiss. 

Aceves moved to the State Board of Equalization, which knew nothing of her procurement skills. Her former bosses, meanwhile, were checking the receipts and calling for an audit. The CHP, whose duties include investigating crimes on state property, did the heavy lifting.

When they showed up at her home, Aceves explained that she had got caught up in a buying frenzy and that she couldn't help herself. It took two trucks to haul away her purchases, excluding the Lexus and other large items. The CHP arrested her on suspicion of embezzlement, grand theft, and possession of stolen property. Her new bosses, however, did not fire her.

The state Board of Equalization put her on paid leave until the matter is resolved in the courts. That may be official state procedure but will come as little comfort to taxpayers. The lesson here would seem to lie in the role of the CHP.

When the police showed up, neither the Department of Child Support Services nor Aceves herself had the authority to fire them, demote them, or otherwise make them go away. Given the opportunity, the police were able to conduct a swift investigation, make an arrest, and recover property. That has not been the case with much larger examples of fraud in state government.

As this column has pointed out, California's Department of Education authorized some $20 million in adult education funds, much of it to politically connected organizations not authorized to receive it. When state auditors blew the whistle on this massive fraud, they found themselves fired and demoted. The biggest offenders got away and a ballpark figure for funds recovered is zero. The result would have been rather different if this case had been handed over to the CHP when the initial fraud was discovered.

If they want to replace delay and evasion with results, legislators should consider expanding the role of the CHP in the investigation of fraud and waste in state government. Here we have a target-rich environment. As PRI's recent education index notes, some state employees tell reporters they simply don't know where the money goes from some state programs. Odds are that the CHP could find out. This will benefit taxpayers and even help the CHP deal with some of its own problems.

CHP bosses have taken dubious disability retirements, but this also applies to the rank and file. Rather than retire at 50-something on the grounds that they no longer want to bust violent criminals, gang members and drunk drivers, CHP officers can apply their experience in the investigation of state employees. The officers, the state, and California taxpayers will all be better off for it.

K. Lloyd Billingsley is Editorial Director at the Pacific Research Institute. He can be reached via email at lbillingsley@pacificresearch.org.